Health.com: Worst Things to Say To Someone Trying to Lose Weight

"Come on, another helping of mashed potatoes won't hurt."

Family members can be trouble when you're trying to lose weight, especially because you usually share meals with them. Hottinger suggest negotiating with them to keep trigger foods out of the house and temptation off the dinner table. An informal contract can be your backup when the undermining—"Look what I bought… Ring Dings!"—gets too intense.

Best response: "Thanks, but no thanks… we discussed this and I need to not have these foods around me."

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What's the worst thing anyone ever said to you when you were trying to lose weight? That's the question we put to Health's Facebook audience, and boy, did we get an earful!

Research backs those responses up. A whopping 66% of women aged 25-55 who have dieted or are trying to lose weight say those closest to them—including spouses and friends—actually undermine their attempts to get slim and healthy, confirms a recent survey by Medi-Weightloss Clinics in Tampa, Fla. Here, the worst things someone can say to you on your weight loss journey—and what your best response should be to stay on course.

Guilt-inducing? Sure. But typical. Half of all dieters report that other people pressured them to eat food that was not on their diet, and a whopping 56% succumbed to that pressure, usually because they didn't want to hurt the brownie-baker's feelings.

Best response: Pass the buck, says Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, a nationally recognized health expert and the co-author of The CarbLovers Diet, and do it with a smile. "Wow, that's so sweet! I'm not eating that right now, but I'm sure Sally in accounting would love them!"

This kind of undermining usually comes from the man in your life, who feels threatened that your weight loss efforts leave him out—or that you will look so great afterwards that you will make him jealous, says Dr. Shah.

Best response: Try to make it a win-win for him, says Largeman-Roth: "I feel better at my goal weight; then we can do more fun things together!"

This undermining comment is often a way for concerned loved ones to make sure you are dieting in a healthy way, says Dr. Shah.

Best response: "There may in fact be those who develop eating disorders, but I will not be one of them," says Dr. Shah. "I am following a healthy weight loss plan and I check in often with my physician."

Family members can be trouble when you're trying to lose weight, especially because you usually share meals with them. Hottinger suggest negotiating with them to keep trigger foods out of the house and temptation off the dinner table. An informal contract can be your backup when the undermining—"Look what I bought… Ring Dings!"—gets too intense.

Best response: "Thanks, but no thanks… we discussed this and I need to not have these foods around me."